Bengal cat health: the list of the most common diseases
Have you decided to adopt a Bengal cat and want to know what are the most common diseases that can affect this breed? Let’s discover them together.
Generally, specimens of this breed enjoy excellent health. However, these cats have a genetic predisposition to the development of certain hereditary pathologies. Let’s see what are the most common diseases in the Bengal cat, how to detect them promptly and how to intervene to protect the health of our four-legged friend.
Common pathologies in the Bengal cat: eye diseases
Among the most common diseases in the Bengal cat are those that affect its eyesight. Here is the list of the most frequent visual pathologies in this breed:
Progressive retinal atrophy
Cataracts in the cat
Entropion
Let’s see in detail how to identify them, what risks they pose to the health of the animal and what is their care.
Progressive retinal atrophy
Among the most common diseases in the Bengal cat, there is progressive atrophy of the retina in the cat. Over time, the efficiency of retinal cells is irreparably reduced, provoking vision loss in the animal.
Unfortunately, the symptoms of this eye pathology arise later, when the damage has already occurred. To date, there is no cure for retinal degeneration. However, we can help the cat to get used to this new condition, providing a comfortable and risk-free environment.
Cataract
Cataracts are a common visual disorder in cats, especially in elderly animals. When a cat is affected by this pathology, the lens and the intraocular lens undergo an alteration.
This adversely affects the cat’s vision: the animal begins to see blurred, to the point of risking becoming completely blind. How to quickly detect this pathology? The most obvious symptom is the clouding of the cat’s eye.
Entropion
Among the most common diseases in Bengal is entropion of the cat’s eyes. Specimens affected by this pathology have the eyelids of one or both eyes facing inwards.
This condition can cause irritation, redness and excessive tearing. Timely intervention is essential: if left untreated, entropion could cause vision loss in the cat.
Among the most used treatments to counteract this pathology there are pharmacological therapies and, in the most severe cases, surgical operation.
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in cats is a pathology that causes an abnormal thickening of the walls of the animal’s heart. To be affected is in particular the left ventricle of the cat.
It is one of the most common diseases in the Abyssinian cat, which is transmitted by inheritance. The consequences of this disorder can be very serious. In the most severe cases, in fact, pleural effusion and pulmonary edema occur.
During the early stages of pathology, animals may not present any symptoms. With the worsening of the disease, they tend to appear:
Heart murmur
Arrhythmia
Cough
Distal neuropathy
Distal neuropathy is one of the most common diseases in Bengal cat. Despite this, it is a disease that is still little known and incurable today. It causes very mild initial symptoms, such as lethargy and constipation in the cat.
The prognosis in case of distal neuropathy, however, is destined to worsen irreparably, up to a complete paralysis of the animal.
Flat-toned kitten syndrome
This disease is more frequent in some breeds, including Bengal specimens, and involves a malformation of the chest of the animal that is affected. It is a condition that does not necessarily prevent the cat from living a full and serene life.
